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December 10, 2020
Sisson, Shorter earn USATF Athlete of the Week honors (Nov. 30 - Dec. 6)
INDIANAPOLIS -- Narrowly missing an American record in the half marathon,
Emily Sisson
(Scottsdale, Arizona) was selected by fans as USATF Athlete of the Week, and Olympic champion
Frank Shorter
was the winner of the 37th USATF Throwback Athlete of the Week award for setting an American record in the men’s marathon on December 3, 1972. In the absence of regular competition during the Covid-19 pandemic, we are taking a weekly look back at some of the great efforts by American track and field athletes through the years.
Competing in a small but über-competitive field at Valencia, Spain, Sisson came painfully close to breaking Molly Huddle’s American record of 67:25 in the women’s half marathon, clocking 67:26 to chop four seconds off her lifetime best. A two-time World Championships 10,000m top-10 finisher, Sisson ran a remarkably even-paced race in Spain, going past 5K in 16:01, 10K n 32:02 and 15K in 48:04. She turned up the tempo over the next 5K to pass 20K in 64:02 and finished well to take fifth.
After a double gold medal performance in the 10,000m and marathon at the 1971 Pan American Games, Shorter capped off a very successful 1972 with a win and AR of 2:10:30 at the Fukuoka Marathon in Japan. It was his second straight Fukuoka title and came after he battled stomach cramps early in the race. Shorter won by more than a minute, and he would go on to win the next two iterations of the race.
Shorter was a driving force in the distance running boom that started in the U.S. in the late 1970s. He captured the imagination of runners throughout the country and worldwide when he won the 1972 Olympic marathon, finishing more than two minutes ahead of his closest competitor.
A Yale University graduate, Shorter won his first major championship when he took the NCAA six-mile title in 1969. The following year, he won the 10,000 meters in the USA-USSR dual meet. In 1971, he won the first of his four Fukuoka golds. His crowning moment came in 1972 in Munich, the city of his birth. There, he finished fifth in the 10,000 meters before his victory in the marathon. A 24-time national champion, Shorter's 1972 Olympic win earned him the Sullivan Award as the nation's top amateur athlete. In 1976, he took the silver medal in the Olympic marathon, making him the only American man to own two Olympic marathon medals.
Shorter earned a law degree in 1974 and later started his own athletic supply company. He also worked in television as a sports commentator. Shorter was elected to the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1984 and to the National Track & Field Hall of Fame in 1989.
Other noteworthy performances from the period November 30-December 6 in USATF history:
December 1 — Mildred McDaniel World record in women’s high jump, 1.76m/5-9.25 at Melbourne, Australia in 1956
December 2 — Buddy Edelen American best in men’s marathon, 2:18:57 at Fukuoka, Japan in 1962
December 4 — Alberto Salazar American best in men’s marathon, 2:09:21 at Fukuoka, Japan in 1983
December 5 — Cheryl Bridges American best in women’s marathon, 2:49:40 at Culver City, California in 1971
December 6 — Kenny Moore American best in men’s marathon, 2:11:36 at Fukuoka, Japan in 1970
More top performances from last week:
Ryan Crouser picked up right where he left off at the end of his outdoor season with a massive 22.58m/74-1 indoor shot put at the K-State Winter Invitational in Manhattan, Kansas. Crouser’s throw was the third-best performance in history, behind only his 22.60m/74-1.75 to win the USATF Indoor title earlier this year and the 22.66m/74-4.25 world record by Randy Barnes in 1989.
Rachel Schneider had a big PR of 31:09.79 in the 10,000m at The Track Meet in San Juan Capistrano to take over the No. 7 spot on the women’s U.S. all-time performer list.
Eric Jenkins climbed to ninth on the U.S. men’s all-time performer list with his 27:22.06 to win the 10,000m at The Track Meet.
Shelby Houlihan clocked 15:02.55 to win the women’s 5,000m at The Track Meet, meeting the Olympic qualifying standard.
Now in its 19th year, USATF’s Athlete of the Week program is designed to recognize outstanding performers at all levels of the sport. USATF names a new honoree each week and features the athlete on USATF.org. Selections are based on top performances and results from the previous week.
2020 Winners: January 9, Miranda Melville; January 16, Paul Perry; January 23, Natosha Rogers; January 30, Tyler Day, February 6, Devin Dixon; February 13, Elle Purrier; February 20, Tori Franklin; February 27, Sandi Morris; March 4, Abdi Abdirahman; March 12 Marielle Hall; March 19, Tim Tollefson; April 2, Louise Ritter; April 9, Francie Larrieu Smith; April 16, Erin Gilreath; April 23, Suzy Powell; April 30, Joe Dial; May 7, Dawn Ellerbe; May 14, Ramona Pagel; May 21, Brian Oldfield; May 28, Jackie Joyner-Kersee; June 4, Jesse Owens; June 11, Mary Decker Slaney; June 18, Leroy Burrell; June 25, Sandra Farmer-Patrick; July 2, Jim Ryun; July 9, Evelyn Ashford; July 16, Wilma Rudolph & Shelby Houlihan; July 23, Pat Daniels & Ryan Crouser; July 30, Michael Norman & Mildred “Babe” Didriksen; August 6, Valarie Allman & Parry O’Brien; August 13, Sara Hall & Kevin Young; August 20, Justin Robinson & Jackie Joyner-Kersee; August 27, Donavan Brazier & Renaldo Nehemiah; September 3, Ryan Crouser & Mike Powell; September 10, Ryan Crouser & Wilma Rudolph; September 17, Rudy Winkler & Kate Schmidt; September 24, Ryan Crouser & Jay Silvester; October 1, Payton Chadwick & Carl Lewis; October 8, Sara Hall & Florence Griffith Joyner; October 15, Shadrack Kipchirchir & Johnny J. Kelley; October 22, Katie Thronson & Billy Mills; October 29, Jaci Smith & Joan Benoit Samuelson; November 5, Molly Huddle & Julie Brown; November 12, Tierney Wolfgram & Hal Connolly; November 19, Lon Myers; November 26, Earlene Brown & Tom McCormack; December 3, Keira D’Amato & Willye White; December 10, Emily Sisson & Frank Shorter.
We welcome your nominations!
To nominate an athlete for USATF Athlete of the Week, please send a detailed email about his/her performance to
communications@usatf.org
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